Publicity Chair Michelle Clancy

EDACafe - Here is why we need to be positive about DAC

YES, I will be wearing my Signature White Jacket!

Every year around this time I start to hear the grumbling about DAC…No one wants to go to (fill in the City, other than San Francisco); or no one goes, it is a waste of time; or is Mark going to wear his White Sport Coat again; (OK I made that one up).

HOWEVER, AFTER DAC, the comments are mostly, (and I do mean mostly) very
positive…we had a good show; the people we wanted to see were there;
got a few really good leads; had a few really promising presentations;
Mark looked really great in his White Sport Jacket again (OK, I made
that one up also), but you get the idea.

So please tell me why the heck this happens over and over every year.
Everyone knows that if you’re not getting customer visits at DAC, then
you’re not doing the right prep work for DAC… like marketing your
product so it gets noticed, working the phones to set appointments, etc.
(Hopefully the reason is not that you don’t have a solution enticing
enough to get attention). I work very hard at getting a full schedule.
I am in meetings throughout my days there and when I am not, I am
walking around learning, talking, networking, and doing what is
important to keep my business noticed and in the thick of the industry.
DAC and similar more specific conferences are critical to our industry.
It is a statement that EDA has support and is an important critical
part of the design process. It shows that start-ups are still making it
and innovation has a place to showcase itself. It allows like-minded
(and plenty of umm not like- minded) people to gather under one roof and
discuss what they need to do to grow their business and learn more
about how others in the industry are doing. Without DAC how would all
this happen? How would we exchange creative innovative thoughts
informally? And let’s not forget that this is also a chance for
companies to have annual meetings and get-togethers. Although costly,
they serve many positive realities as well and would have happened with
or without DAC.

And what is a trade show if not in part to socialize, to build
relationships, to form a brother/sisterhood if you will. Forgetting for
a moment the importance of the conference, seminars, etc, DAC has a
multiplicity of reasons for support from our industry. After all, you
cannot keep saying EDA is not growing as fast as we want, and then say
DAC is a waste of time! You want to see EDA shrink, try having no
industry trade shows!

Most important, where would I be able to wear my Signature White Sport Jacket?